章 31: Thousand Clones Legendary Spirit Art

After Xuefeng returned to the courtyard, the food prepared for them had already gone cold. Wuying hadn't had time to prepare a fresh meal today, so they had to make do with what was available. Despite the chill, they finished everything quickly, as Wuying needed to replenish the blood she had lost, and food was the best solution aside from pills. Although she could use her Spirit Qi to boost blood production, it had been depleted in the earlier fight.

The ladies exchanged glances without speaking and decided to retire to their rooms for rest, silently acknowledging the newfound respect they had for each other after the day's battle. Xuefeng was supposed to start his training today, but the sparring session had delayed it until tomorrow.

"Try to choose a Spirit Art that you like for now. I'll help you with the parts you can't understand later. Also, we'll start your physical training in the morning. Cultivation isn't just about increasing your dantian capacity but also strengthening your physical body," Wuying advised him before entering her room.

Xuefeng glanced at the sunset and sighed. He had spent another day in this foreign world. Today marked the fourth day since his reincarnation, and the longer he stayed, the more dangerous it seemed.

He entered his room and lay on the bed. 'So we're alone for the rest of the evening. Ling, how's the process of modifying Spirit Arts?' he asked inwardly.

'I'm almost done with the Clone Arts. What do you want me to modify next?' Ling had been working since they left the Spirit Art Tower and was nearly finished with the first one.

He thought for a moment before deciding. 'Well, how about Sword Art for attacking?' All he could do at the moment was swing the sword left and right.

'As you wish. You said earlier that you wanted to get powerful. The fastest way to achieve that is by gathering more Fate Fragments. Each one grants you a special ability. Of course, if you kill someone with multiple fragments, you'll only get the main one. The others will be lost,' Ling suggested earnestly. 'Before I finish, think of a way to get Princess Shan's necklace.'

'Right, I think I can use the present I got from the Spirit Treasury to trade with her,' Xuefeng wondered, unable to think of anything else. 'Or I could just pin her down to the bed and grab it by force...' He shook his head at his own joke, but the image was already stuck in his mind.

'Aaargh, if this continues, my Tianshi will become only a distant memory... I guess it's about time they held a funeral for me on Earth. She's probably devastated, but after some time, she'll move on, find a boyfriend, have kids…' He stopped imagining further as it was too painful.

'Okay, I'm done. It turned out somewhat decent. Come to my space to see,' Ling suddenly interrupted his melancholic thoughts.

Xuefeng sat up cross-legged and closed his eyes. His mind slipped smoothly into his dantian and flew towards the Spirit. After a few attempts, he found it much easier to manipulate his mind within his dantian. Awaiting him inside his Spirit were all the Spirit Artifacts he had taken from the Spirit Treasury and numerous black orbs.

He pointed at the orbs and asked, 'Are these Spirit Arts?'

'Yeah, they're made from your Spirit Qi. Here, this is the one I made,' Ling introduced proudly as a black orb with a hint of gold flew toward him. It landed on his palm, and he instantly felt a familiarity with it.

'What do I do with it?' he asked after examining it.

'Just absorb it into your body. The information will automatically appear in your mind,' Ling explained with a chuckle.

The moment he did, his head exploded with data. The whole description inscribed itself into his mind. Even without vision, he knew how this Spirit Art worked. It was almost the same as the original, but he could manipulate the amount of Spirit Qi left in the clone. After the Spirit Qi inside his copy depleted, the clone would disappear. It was also much faster and smoother than previous versions.

The last new function could be regarded as either the best or worst one. He had to control the clones with the Spirit Qi left inside. Although it was hard to split his mind and do multiple things simultaneously, it was doable with enough practice.

'Wow, that's great work you did there. I can't wait for the other arts,' he praised her happily.

'The only big downside of this Spirit Art is that you can't clone your Spirit Artifacts' special features like your Black Flames. You can copy the blade's sharpness but not the soul,' Ling explained further.

'Yeah, that was to be expected. You still did a good job. I'll go practice it now.' Xuefeng slipped out of the space and returned to his room.

He stood up and took a deep breath. It was his first time using his Spirit Qi on a Spirit Art. He followed the instructions according to the knowledge he had just received and released his black Qi.

In theory, he had to scan his whole body and then transform Spirit Qi into a Spirit Qi Shell that looked exactly like him. The more Qi he used, the more real the clone would become. If he used more than two-tenths of his Qi, he could practically replicate his whole body, with muscles and blood to fool his enemies. If only a little Qi was used, the clone would be destroyed with one attack.

After slowly scanning his whole body, he used three-tenths of his Qi to create his first perfect clone. His dantian was still not replenished after copying manuals on the fifth floor, or he would have used much more. His Spirit Qi first transformed into different cells, then muscles and bones as he slowly built his body. This was his first creation, so he didn't want to rush anything. He followed the manual on transforming Spirit Qi into different forms, and after about two minutes, he was finally done creating a whole body.

After he finished making himself, he manipulated his Qi and replicated his clothes. 'Next time I should do it simultaneously,' he thought, embarrassed as he watched his naked body being covered by layers of clothing. What if someone entered the room right now? It would be even worse if it was Wuying or Princess Shan.

The whole process was completed in exactly three minutes. If he had been in the middle of a battle, he would have died ten times already. Luckily, this was just his first time practicing any type of Spirit Art. He looked at the exact clone of himself and was quite pleased. It was his first time, after all. The clone stood motionless, waiting for Xuefeng to command it with his Qi.

"Wait, before I start, I should probably name this art," he thought aloud. 'Ling, what should we call it?' he asked the creator.

'Just call it whatever you like. It's not like you'll shout its name before activating it. I can just tell you it should be around rank 5,' Ling answered before returning to modifying the Spirit Arts. It was really hard, and she needed her entire focus.

"Well, for now, I'll call it 'Thousand Clones Legendary Spirit Art' until I figure out a better name. I'll get to a thousand clones eventually, right?" He smiled at his random name before turning towards his clone.